Journalist Shot In Second Night Of Riots In Northern Ireland

A photographer working for the British Press Association has been shot in the leg during a riot in Belfast, The Telegraph reports.

Riots have occurred for the last two nights near a Catholic enclave in East Belfast, a neighborhood surrounded by Protestant areas.

It is said to be the worst violence in the area for 10 years, with shots fired and police attacked with petrol bombs and stones. Up to 500 people are suspected of involvement.

Police suspect loyalist paramilitary groups such as east Belfast Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) to be involved in orchestrating the violence, beginning by attacking Republican homes in the area.

Police are investigating the shooting of the journalist, the BBC reports.

Assistant Chief Constable Alistair Finlay told the BBC that it would be unusual if the journalist was targeted deliberately, "It would be odd to target a journalist in this particular way, but it would not be odd to target police officers and there were police resources round about where those journalists were standing."